Portray
by SugarInMyTea
Summary: Written for Magic's Price, the third book in The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy. Vanyel is home with Stefen when an incident occurs in the fields. Afterwards, Vanyel learns about a different side of love and how love works in our lives.


Portray

"Vanyel! Come quick!" Radevel along with three panting, young servants threw open the large oak door to Vanyel's cozy room in a hurry. The quartet ran inside, horrific expressions veiling their faces.

The herald-mage sat up in alarm, his mental shields and defensive spells automatically poised to go off at the intrusion of his chambers. Recognizing his cousin before his lethal magic could act against him, Vanyel forced his defenses down.

"What is it?" The young, yet old, man asked in a concerned voice.

"Creatures!" Radevel wheezed, his eyes large and frightened. "Dark creatures! They're in the fields close to the horse pasture!"

At the mere mention of 'creatures' Vanyel had already sprinted out of his large bed and began to hurriedly don his heraldic whites.

Stefen sat up groggily in Vanyel's bed. His ruffled red hair was messy and his shoulders were bare.

"Wassgoinon?" He mumbled, yawning loudly.

"Something bad." Vanyel answered as he unceremoniously yanked on his white boots. "Stay here. I don't want you getting hurt." And he ran out, his silky black hair slashed with gray streaking behind him and his cousin and the frightened servants following hastily.

"Alright..." Stefen murmured, stretching his thin arms outward and groaning. He scratched his head in the absence of the previously crowded room and stood with a sigh before beginning to dress.

* * *

"What _are_ they?" Jarvis growled. The creatures in question were large, black skinned, half-snake half-humanoid _things_. Each had six arms and an open mouth drooling deep purple tinted poison. Vanyel opened his mouth to answer the armsmaster but before he could get the words out, the creatures, all four of them, began to make high pitched screeching hisses. Vanyel winced at the unfamiliar sound and looked Jarvis in the eyes.

"Evil."

* * *

Vanyel panted heavily from behind the small wall of boulders and eyed the tops of the many heads peeking out of the windows and doorways of his family's manor as well as from behind bushes in the gardens. The maddening hiss of the horrid creatures mixed with the bucking of horse hooves against the barn's walls was making Vanyel's head hurt ... a head that needed to concentrate on the matter at hand: The man-snake things. Vanyel took a deep breath, stole magic from the closest node around and cast a spell.

* * *

Fire rained down from the sky, bombarding the creatures and making their hisses of pain even more unbearable to listen to. Vanyel's eyes glanced at the black puddles of their venomous saliva gathering onto the ground and made a mental reminder to purify the land as best he could once he destroyed the creatures. But, things didn't seem to be looking too good for him at the moment.

Vanyel stopped the fire, which he had purposefully twisted to _not_ touch the ground and only hit the creatures, in frustration. It didn't seem to be doing any thing more than hurt the hybrids' skin.

"What's wrong?" Jarvis whispered to him, fear evident in his shaking voice.

"Fire harms everything unless it has a shield." Vanyel answered, his mind searching for an idea of what to throw at the creatures next. Jarvis paled and just sat back against the rocks.

_Something's _got_ to hurt them more than what the fire did. I'm sure there's some sort of plant or potion that would kill them ... but what? I don't have time to figure out what ... There must be something else that will render them harmless. _Vanyel eyed the creatures, his mind memorizing every part of them in specific detail. But, he was rudely jerked out of his study by a tug on his senses. A small formless _vrondi_ pulled at him, pushing the feeling of '_??_' into his mind, just as it had when he had first cast a spell against the human-serpents, and when he had cast the second spell and the third ... and the fourth. The herald-mage growled inwardly.

_When I thought that they would be helpful _against_ the enemy I didn't realize how annoying they'd be for us who support Valdemar._

He sent it a feeling of authority and his status as Herald-Mage Vanyel Ashkevron quickly to the air elemental.

:_!!_: it replied and left him alone.

Returning to the creatures, Vanyel stared at them a long while before cocking his head and standing.

"What're going to do?" Jervis questioned quietly from the ground.

"I have an idea," Vanyel simply answered and stepped out from behind the rocks. He walked out to the creatures, his arms at his sides and his head high, looking at them in their eyes. One caught sight of him and lowered its upper body down to Vanyel's level. It's mouth had closed and it opened it slightly to emit a small coo. Slithering around Vanyel, it cocked its head at a large angle and made a call of approval. Another squeaked in response while the other two made low pitched hisses. They all came down around Vanyel, circling him with their heads turned and their arms back, not touching Vanyel, each other or themselves. The herald-mage took a deep breath and reached his hand out, lightly touching the forehead of one.

It stopped. Its eyes widened and its body shook violently before it ceased and gave a pleased cry. The other three creatures began making similar calls that sounded ... ecstatic. One encircled his left arm with all six of its and rubbed its face happily against his shoulder. Another nuzzled his chest while embracing his abdomen while another of its kind clung to his right leg. The last stroked his hair with two hands and rested its other four hands on his upper back.

Vanyel smiled at the strange acts of love from the previously evil creatures.

"Come out, they're fine!" He called to his family. Jarvis was the first to reach him. Vanyel sent feelings of security to the creatures, telling them that Jarvis, and the other people who they were about to see, were good and part of Vanyel's family. The human-serpent around his leg looked at Jarvis and squeaked before returning to nuzzling Vanyel's thigh.

"H-how did you know they weren't going to rip you apart?" Jarvis asked, still shaken.

"The pools of their saliva," Vanyel commented, pointing with his right hand to the closest one. A few small, dark green stalks were poking out of the middle of puddle. Jarvis nodded, comprehension growing on his face.

* * *

Vanyel's family congregated around the herald-mage quickly, filling the air with celebration, talk and laughter. Stefen found his lover in the middle of the crowd and the creature playing with Vanyel's hair moved over to him instead. Yet, as they laughed and his family moved around him with talk of a feast in Vanyel's name for figuring out that the creatures were tame, the high rank herald-mage 'felt' something move at the edge of the forest and he turned his head towards it before a booming, "Oi!" filled the air, quieting the crowd.

A man stepped out from the shade of the trees. He was tall and thick with muscle. That much was evident from far away. Vanyel could see his black hair was short enough to just barely stay out of his eyes ... his piercing, 'pure water' blue eyes. If Vanyel had to name something that made his heart jump due to fear, it would be those eyes. Their color sang of innocence and purity ... virginity ... but their frayed, deep blue edges whispered of unknown depths and hidden secrets. But, what surprised Vanyel almost more than the fear-bringing eyes of the man was his clothing. He was wearing heraldic whites. Ripped and dirty heraldic whites but still the Valdemar herald uniform, nonetheless.

Before he could even take two steps from the forest's edge, a woman joined him. She was short and wore the same dirty uniform as her partner. But, she'd cut the sleeves from hers and there were patches of black randomly along the fabric. The woman had a similar look of seriousness as the man and a similar hair cut, too. But her locks were a dirty blonde and her eyes a light chocolate.

As they walked together closer to the house, the man whistled loudly and the creatures immediately released their hold on Vanyel and Stefen. They slithered quickly over to the man and the woman who wore heraldic whites. The man disregarded the creatures, his eyes set on Vanyel who he could easily see since the crowd had parted. The woman pulled a sack from a bag on her shoulder and emptied it onto the ground. As the creatures devoured whatever had been in the bag, the pair moved closer and closer to Vanyel.

"Do they belong to you?" Vanyel called out, trying to be friendly yet remain defensive. Stefen came closer to him and grasped his hand, holding it in caution.

"Yes," the woman answered curtly. Her voice had a slight accent to it which Vanyel couldn't place, which was strange since her clothing said she was from Valdemar.

_Though, she could've stolen the uniform. Her _and_ him, both ..._

"They're called pimins," the man said loudly, naming the creatures. He shared the same accent with the woman.

"Pimins, huh?" Vanyel said, smiling nervously.

"Yes," the woman answered.

"Well, they're quite interesting creatures,"

"Aren't they?" The man smiled back. "We apologize for losing them. Well, they sort of ran away ... but, they've never been in this area before and wanted to explore ... so, they got ... a bit misplaced and-"

"We're not sorry," the woman interrupted, her voice loud and controlling.

"Then, _I'm_ sorry," the man said.

Vanyel cleared his throat and asked, "Are you heralds?"

"Herald-mages," the woman answered, her eyes not even in the same direction as Vanyel.

Vanyel's eyes widened in complete surprise. There were maybe ten herald-mages left in Valdemar nowadays. "Really?"

"Yeah," the man nodded.

"What are your names?" Vanyel could hear the murmuring of his family behind him.

"I'm Tymith," the muscular man answered happily enough. "And this is N-"

"Nikkol." She scowled, eying the intertwined hands of Vanyel and Stefen.

"I've ... never heard of you," Vanyel commented.

"Well, we haven't been in Valdemar in..." Tymith began, pausing to look at his partner for help. She looked lazily back at him.

"Twelve years, idiot." She rolled her eyes and turned her head back towards the lover's hands.

"What she said," Tymith laughed. Stopping suddenly he added, "Without the 'idiot'. I mean, I doubt you're an idiot. Especially since you were able to get our pets to calm down." He laughed at his attempt to not insult Vanyel.

"It's fine," Vanyel stated. His eyes darted to the horizon. "It's getting dark." He took a deep breath and turned his silver eyes back to the pair of herald-mages. "Why don't you stay for the night?"

* * *

"So, you were in Wendwinter forest this whole time?" Vanyel asked over the feast in the great hall of his family's manor. "That's in the north, it's freezing up there."

"That's why it's so hot here even though it's autumn." Nikkol answered. She was down in her chair with her shoulder's pressed against the middle of the chair's back. Her elbows rested on the table and in her hand was her fork with which she played with the food on her plate, none of which had entered her mouth yet. Outside, one could hear the cooing of the pimins as they slithered through the fields. Inside was full of chatter and the clang of silverware against plates.

Nikkol smiled for the first time since getting to Ashkevron Manor and giggled out, "I'd forgotten trees grew leaves."

Tymith, who was on his third course of food by now, gave her a crazed look. "How could you forget that? We were only gone for twelves years ... not thirty."

Nikkol's smile faded instantly at the sound of Tymith's voice. She turned her head to look at him. "I was making a joke." She cursed fervently and stood. "I'm done." And she stalked off to one of the doorways.

"She doesn't even know where she's going ..." Vanyel commented.

"She tends to figure out building structures pretty quickly," Tymith murmured, his mouth stuffed with food. "And, if she doesn't find where she thinks she wants to go, she can always backtrack herself. She's amazing at finding trails ... even in castles."

As Tymith continued to swallow platefuls of food, Vanyel stared at the doorway Nikkol had left from, wondering what the secret between the two herald-mages was.

* * *

"I'm going to get more food. Your servants are still up now, right?" Tymith asked as he stood from his seat in the chambers he and Nikkol were sharing that night.

"Yeah, just wander the halls and you'll run into one sooner or later," Vanyel advised, smiling. Tymith laughed heartily and left the room, the door closing with a bang.

Nikkol, who had been in the room when Vanyel and Tymith first entered, was laying on the bed, her legs in the air. She'd kept quiet as the two men had conversed ... for almost an hour.

"He's an idiot," she said bluntly, lowering her legs. Vanyel just turned his head to look at her. She returned his stare. Sitting there for such a long time, Vanyel tried to look into Nikkol's mind without deliberately doing so.

_What is she so apprehensive about?_

"You and the red haired boy are lovers." It was a statement, not a question.

Vanyel kept quiet, his action of not denying the sentence proving it to be true.

Nikkol looked away from him. "You and the red haired boy are life-bonded."

Again, Vanyel said nothing.

"Tymith and I are like that."

At this, Vanyel couldn't help but blurt out a deep, "Really?"

She cracked a smile. "Yes," Her eyes looked back at Vanyel. "Really."

"I ... never would've guessed. Especially after the way you two treat each other."

"Eh ... I don't care what he says to me. In my opinion, if the sex is good, I'm good." She turned her head back towards the ceiling and lifted her legs once again.

"What? You mean that you base your relationship together off of sex only?" Vanyel was puzzled. This was what he'd been internally battling with himself over: the idea of sex versus love. Vanyel believed that sex could occur with people who one was not in love with and still be pleasurable. He believed that he could be sexually attracted to people and not be in love with them. To him, true love was in how people treated each other and the experiences lovers had together, not just if sex with one another was good.

"More or less. I mean, there are the times when we're nice and 'make love' if that's what you want to call soft sex, but ... we're just ... angry people. And, when two angry people become angry lovers, they're angry and want some relief, so they have angry sex." She turned to him again. "And we're angry a lot." She sat up. "We're just ... angry." She laughed. "I mean, I've had sex with other people ... _we've_ had sex with other people ... together, I mean. And, it's good." She stared Vanyel in the eyes. "It's amazing. I love sex. But ... when he and I are together ... like that ... we just ..." She held her hands up, trying to think of the right word. Pausing, she looked at her hands and slowly put them together, fingers intertwined. "... mesh." Nikkol looked at him. "Like your hands with his," she commented, alluding to that afternoon when they'd first met. Her attention returned to her hands. "A perfect fit."

The door opened and Tymith walked in carrying a plate full of some kind of breaded meat. Nikkol turned to him, her hands still together.

"Oo, good! Food! I'm so hungry!" She bounded off of the bed and took the plate from Tymith's hands only to carry it back to the large bed.

"That's why I asked for a lot. I said, 'Nikkol didn't eat before. She wasn't feelin' too good, but now she's fine.' That's what I told them!" He sat down on the bed with his lover.

"I suppose that's true enough." She ate a piece of the meat with her fingers. "Oo, this is delicious!" She smiled and looked at Tymith. He grinned happily back.

"I'll ... let you two enjoy yourselves." Vanyel said with enough heartily as he could muster, his mind trying to analyze his conversation with Nikkol.

"Thank you for letting us stay here, Vanyel." Tymith called out to the elder herald-mage.

"Of course," he answered, letting himself out of their room.

* * *

"Stefen ... are you awake?" Vanyel asked quietly as he opened his door and entered his own chambers. The younger man grunted from the bed and sat up sleepily.

"Barely," he yawned.

"Give me your hand," Vanyel whispered, sitting down next to his lover on the bed and holding his hand out, fingers extended all the way.

"Sure ..." Stefen reached out his hand and held it in front of Vanyel's. The herald-mage slowly pressed his own hand against the boy's.

"You're shaking, Vanyel ..." Stefen's voice was alert and full of concern.

"I'm fine," Vanyel mumbled, trying to focus. Their palms were completely against each other.

Slowly, very slowly, Vanyel began to move his thumb so that it closed around and touched the back side of Stefen's hand. Stefen kept glancing between his lover's face and their touching hands, trying to figure out what was going on. Next, Vanyel spread his fingers wide and began to bend them in the spaces between Stefen's fingers with precise accuracy. Stefen caught on and bent his fingers as well, pushing his hand forward to get a grip around Vanyel's hand. As their fingers closed and their hands held each other with no gaps between the fingers, Vanyel smiled and looked into Stefen's eyes.

"It's a perfect fit," the elder herald-mage murmured, tears forming in his eyes.

"Vanyel ..." Stefen started, worried about his lover.

Vanyel just shook his head and smiled wider. He leaned forward slightly, pausing to stare into Stefen's eyes. The younger man leaned in as well, until his mouth was almost against Vanyel's. With a final push, Vanyel pressed his lips softly against Stefen's, kissing him sweetly as a single tear fell from each closed eye. He could feel Stefen's heartbeat through his tense fingers and simply squeezed his hand. Stefen pulled back slightly, breaking the kiss.

"What's wrong, Vanyel?" he asked, frightened.

"I love you," Vanyel whispered and tightened his grip on the bond of their hands.


End file.
